Fire
by starbin21
Summary: Cowboys - especially sheriffs - aren't supposed to be afraid of anything...right?


**A/N:** Okay, so I have _never_ written a story for Toy Story before, but this idea crossed my mind a few weeks after seeing Toy Story 3...and ever since then, I haven't been able to shake it. Enjoy. :) P.S.- I was double-checking some facts on wiki, and found Woody's last name. So _yes_, it really is Woody's last name, and I didn't make it up. Just to be clear. Now read on!

**Fire**

Woody Pride.

To so many toys, the name was legendary.

Woody was _the _sheriff. The original.

He was the fearless leader of The Roundup Gang, the one who was always there to save the day. To many other toys who knew him better, he was still a hero, but on a different level. Headstrong and stubborn, yes, but courageous, strong, and inspiring. His plastic head was screwed on right, and his heart was stitched in the right place.

To Buzz, he was the most wonderful friend anyone could ever ask for. Through the good times and the bad, Woody was always there to help sort the situation out. And for that, he would always be grateful.

To Jessie, he was the protective big brother who may be difficult at times, but had a reason. He was always looking out for her, and for that, she would always be grateful.

To Bullseye, he was a compassionate cowboy who never let him down. And for that, he would always be grateful.

And to all the other toys in their family; Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head, the triplet Pizza Planet aliens, Rex, Slinky, and Hamm; Dolly, Trixie, Chuckles, Buttercup, and Mr. Pricklepants...Woody was the dependable cowboy. Always there if you needed advice, always there if you needed a hug, always there if you needed someone to tell you that everything would be okay with such a convincing voice that it was impossible to believe otherwise.

Woody loved them all too; every last one.

But at times...he felt a little lonely. With sixteen toys in your family, it seems impossible, right?

Wrong.

Woody missed Bo Peep. A lot. He missed her sweet smile, her soft voice, and the way he could always talk to her whenever _he _needed someone to depend on. But Bo was gone; sold in a yard sale about a year before their Sunnyside adventure. Woody had secretly hoped that maybe her new owners donated her and he would find Bo at the daycare between planning their escape the moment Andy's mother shut the trunk. When he didn't, hope fleeted from him in every way possible, and so he distracted himself thoroughly with escape plans. Later he came to hope she was in a loving young girl's hands.

Even so, a cowboy like Woody would just keep internalizing every thought; every negative emotion that coursed through him. There were certain things that he would only speak about to Buzz, who knew his secret longing that he would one day find Bo; and other things that he kept to himself.

Especially _that _event.

No one knew how much it bothered him, which was fine with Woody. He hated feeling like he was burdening someone with his problems. That's why he internalized so many things. But this particular event was something that chilled him to his very core when he thought about it. He even developed a deep hatred of it, and a fear. And no one knew about this fear, not even Buzz, until now.

Their new owner, Bonnie, and her family were having a small barbecue in their backyard with some family. Naturally, Bonnie brought out all of her toys so that they could join the fun, and only allowing her cousins to play with them if they promised to be careful. All of the toys had fun, and when dinner was called, all of the kids ran over to the other side of the yard to eat.

Unfortunately for the toys, they still couldn't move, since they were in full view of Bonnie's entire family.

It became dark, and a bonfire was started. Bonnie brought over the toys so that they could "warm up by the fire," but was distracted by her cousins, enough so that the toys could talk without being discovered in the chaos of Bonnie's parents, aunts, uncles, and cousins talking and chatting.

"_Psst! _Woody! It's all right, you can stop faking," Buzz called to Woody.

Woody shook his head and propped himself up. The fire right above them crackled, and a faint _pop _was heard as an ember flew out of the pit and right at Woody.

"AHH!" Woody yelled as he cringed and jumped back. Genuine fear lined his features, shocking the whole toy family.

"Woody, are you all right? You don' look so good," Jessie asked, talking a step towards him.

"I'm, uh, I'm f-fine," Woody stammered as his hand left his heart.

Buzz gave Woody a worried look, then looked at Jessie, who shrugged.

"Man, this fire is nice. A pig could get used to this," Hamm said as he layed down on the soft grass.

"Don't get too close, or this might end up being a luau," Mr. Potato Head snickered, earning giggles from the rest of the group.

Hamm said something snarky in retaliation, something about fried potatoes, but Woody didn't hear it. He was trying to get as far away from the bonfire as possible without alerting the others. However, Buzz was too aligned with Woody's movements. He was, after all, a member of the Star Command.

"I'll be right back," Buzz told Jessie, slipping his hand out of hers. Jessie nodded, knowing that Buzz was the only one who could talk to Woody when he was like this, and turned to the rest of the group.

"Woody? Where are you going? Bonnie could be back any minute, you know," Buzz asked Woody from behind him, and the sheriff nearly jumped out of his stuffing.

"Heh, knew I couldn't go far b'fore you'd notice," Woody chuckled nervously, turning to face his best friend.

"C'mon now, Woody, what's eating at you? You were fine until Bonnie went off. Are you missing Andy again?" Buzz asked with concern.

"No, no, not at all. I love Bonnie. It's not that at all..." Woody trailed off, his eyes downcast. Buzz put a hand on his shoulder, prompting Woody the look up. Buzz's eyes were filled with compassion and concern for his friend, and Woody couldn't lie to him.

"It's...it's kind of silly, really...I mean, I'm Woody Pride, the fearless leader of Woody's Roundup, not afraid of anything...right?" Woody asked Buzz as they both sat on the grass.

"That's not true. Everyone's afraid of something, even if it's hardwired in our circuitry- or, er, plastic ware- that we shouldn't be afraid," Buzz said.

"Buzz...what are youafraid of?" Woody asked softly, almost timidly.

"Me?" Buzz sighed. "I'm afraid of a lot of things, actually," he admitted, brushing a blade of grass off his leg.

"Like what?" Woody asked again, in a voice that nearly sounded childish.

"Well...I'm afraid of losing what we have. Our family. I'm afraid of losing Jessie. I'm glad I was finally able to tell her how I felt. If you asked me that question three months ago, I would have told you that I was afraid I'd never get the guts to tell her how I feel," Buzz replied as honestly as he could.

Woody never responded, and the two toys sat silent, each submersed in thought. Then something struck Buzz.

"Woody..." he addressed the cowboy, "...what are_ you_ afraid of?"

Woody was silent for a few moments. Then he began to speak.

"The same as you. Except my fear of losing Bo came true. I'm not sure if I'll ever see her again," Woody said with a sadness in his voice that Buzz couldn't even begin to describe.

"But...there's another fear now," Woody spoke again. "I'm sure it's because of the whole fiasco at Sunnyside, but it's almost because we lost our entire family."

"What are you talking about?" Buzz asked, confused.

"Fire," Woody whispered, a visible shiver convulsing his body.

"Fire? Why fire?" Buzz asked, still not grasping what Woody was trying so hard to tell him.

"Do you not remember how we all almost _died_?" Woody's voice rose a little. "We were almost _burned _to death, and now I can't stand anything to do with flames," Woody closed his eyes and shook his head, as if trying to dismiss a horrid thought.

"Woody, that's completely understandable-" Buzz began, but Woody interrupted him.

"But _you _had somebody to hold onto! You had Jessie, and everyone else had each other, and I'm not saying that I wish Bo had been there- as a matter of fact, I am very happy she wasn't- but I was stretched out, holding hands with two of the others. I can't even _remember _who it was. All I remember is struggling against the flames that were about to swallow us whole, I could _feel _the flames at my feet...and after the triplets saved us, I swore to myself that I would _never _step foot near a fire ever again. I associate too much with it," Woody finished, his deepest fear spilled out for Buzz to hear.

Buzz spoke after a moment of thought. "You know...that was the past. That's when everything was confusing; we had just lost Andy, been betrayed by Lotso...by all means, I'm not telling you to get over your fear...that's something you'll have to do by yourself. I can't help you with that. But I think you keep associating the fire with betrayal...it's crossed my mind too, about how a stuffed bear could be so...evil. But he's gone now. And our family will hopefully never have to go through something like that again. I guess what I'm trying to say is...don't let the betrayal take over your life. If you let it go, I'm sure your fear of fire will begin to fade as well. Focus on the good. See what we now have - an even bigger family than before, an owner that loves us as much as Andy, who Andy _allowed _to keep us - and just let go of the negative. Just _look _Woody, look at what we've come into."

Woody glanced across the grass at their family. Jessie was leaning against Bullseye, both laughing at Mr. Potato Head and Hamm's banter, and even Chuckles was smiling. The aliens were being pampered by Mrs. Potato Head, and Mr. Pricklepants was giving one of his all-famous soliloquies to Buttercup, Trixie, Slinky, and Rex; with Dolly perched on Rex's shoulders. Woody smiled and realized that Buzz was...well...Buzz was right. What they had was the best any toy could ever ask for.

All the toys faked their normal poses when Bonnie came back, and the little girl found Woody and Buzz a few feet away. She scratched her head, confused, then shrugged and brought them back closer to the fire.

This time, fear didn't seize the cowboy's heart. This time, he welcomed the warmth that the flames radiated as Bonnie and her cousins played with the toys at a safe distance from the fire.

Following his best friend's advice, he let go of the betrayal.

And this time, Woody Pride - the bravest cowboy of all - felt truly happy once more.


End file.
